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Independence offers reward for stolen statue

A bronze statue that's a cultural centerpiece of Independence is missing and there are fears it will be sold for scrap.

The 6-foot statue of a pioneer woman clutching her child and a bucket of water stood on a rock pedestal at the National Frontier Trails Center for the past 23 years.

"There's a momentary disbelief where you're standing and saying, 'Is it really not there?'" said museum administrator David Aamodt.

He said it's not just a physical crime. The statue stood for the ideas of toughness, resourcefulness and independence of the pioneer era.

"And (it's) suddenly gone," Aamodt said. "I mean, that was one of my first thoughts, you know, that symbol is taken from us."

The statue was commissioned in the late 1980s and a community fundraising drive helped to pay for it.

The city has offered a reward of up to $5,000 if the statue is returned intact. Police said they're afraid it's been cut up for the scrap value of the bronze.

"We really, really want that statue back," said Tom Gentry of the Independence Police Department. "So we're pulling out all the stops to get it."

There's another statue at the museum that honors pioneer Jim Bridger. The museum said it will consider whatever steps it believes necessary to protect it.

Vandals have also attacked a neighboring railroad museum, cutting away downspouts for the copper.

Independence leaders said they would also offer a reward of up to $1,000 for information that leads to an arrest. Gentry said if the thief returns the statue in one piece, police would work with him or her. If not, they plan to prosecute as far as the law will allow.

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